Texas Insider calls out the favoritism towards Arch Manning by highlighting Quinn Ewers' underrated play against Arkansas
Arch Manning was Texas' de facto starting quarterback for three weeks while Quinn Ewers was reeling from an injury. Unsurprisingly, given his famous background as the nephew of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, he captured the country's imagination during this period.
During the weekend, given Quinn Ewers's low-yardage outing (176 yards, a season-low) against the Arkansas Razorbacks, some might have even argued Manning has proven to be a more impressive player since that former's injury.
However, Texas insider Justin Nash is not one of those. Nash believes Quinn Ewer's showed some undervalued qualities. He posted a video of Ewers escaping a sack during the third quarter against Arkansas, adding the following caption:
"Could you imagine the reaction if Arch Manning escaped a sack like this and threw an extremely accurate ball?"
"Texas twitter would be tripping over themselves"
Despite his low yardage against the Hogs, he was also praised for his reliability as a passer and ability to keep the ball out of harm's way. He was incredibly efficient with his low yardage, connecting two touchdown passes in the 20-10 victory over Arkansas.
Steve Sarkisian praises Quinn Ewers's performance against Arkansas
Despite some criticisms leveled by the media, coach Steve Sarkisian seems to be sticking by Quinn Ewers. The Longhorns coach said this in the aftermath of the victory in Fayetteville:
“When you just don’t have as many opportunities, you’ve got to try to maximize them when you get them, him taking care of the football, converting on third downs and what a play ... on fourth down to kind of seal the game. I was proud of him for that.”
Ewers recorded 1898 yards, 21 touchdown passes, and six interceptions in 2024. Due to his mid-season injury, the QB doesn't seem on pace to surpass his 2023 yardage, but he's just one touchdown away from equalling the career-high 22 he threw that year.
Arch Manning's numbers in 2024
For his part, Arch Manning has recorded 939 passing yards, nine touchdowns, and two interceptions. He seems called to be Quinn Ewers's successor as the starting quarterback next season. Manning's QBR is higher than Ewers this season (80.1 vs. 70.8), but admittedly, the sample size is much smaller.